parasite

parasite

[par´ah-sīt]

1. a plant or animal that lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage; see also symbiosis. Parasites include multicelled and single-celled animals, fungi, and bacteria, and some authorities also include viruses.Those that feed upon human hosts can cause diseases ranging from the mildly annoying to the severe or even fatal. (See accompanying table.)

obligatory parasite one that is entirely dependent on a host for its survival.

parasite

(păr′ə-sīt′)

n.

Biology An organism that lives and feeds on or in an organism of a different species and causes harm to its host.

parasite

[per′əsīt]

Etymology: Gk, parasitos, guest

1 an organism living in or on and obtaining nourishment from another organism. A facultative parasite may live on a host but is capable of living independently. An obligate parasite is one that depends entirely on its host for survival.

2 See parasitic fetus. parasitic,adj.

parasite

Infectious disease

1. A disease-causing organism.

2. An organism with an obligatory dependence on a host, to the host's detriment. See Microparasite, Opportunistic parasite.

par·a·site

(par'ă-sīt)

1. An organism that lives on or in another and draws its nourishment therefrom.

2. In the case of a fetal inclusion or conjoined twins, the usually incomplete twin that derives its support from the more nearly normal autosite.

[G. parasitos, a guest, fr. para, beside, + sitos, food]

parasite

An organism that lives on or in the body of another living organism, and depends on it for nutrition and protection. Ectoparasites live on the surface, endoparasites live inside. Parasites do not contribute to the host's welfare and are often harmful. Human parasites, which cause thousands of diseases, include VIRUSES, BACTERIA, FUNGI, PROTOZOA, WORMS, FLUKES, TICKS, LICE, BUGS, some burrowing FLIES and LEECHES.

parasite

an organism that lives in association with, and at the expense of, another organism, the host, from which it obtains organic nutrition. Those that live on the outside of the host, such as ticks, are called ectoparasites, while others such as tapeworms that live inside the host are called endoparasites. Parasites can be FACULATIVE or OBLIGATE and have a range of effects, from inflicting minimum harm to the host which continues to live and reproduce normally (the best-adapted parasites, e.g. TAPEWORMS), to causing the death of the host (e.g. Malaria parasite). COEVOLUTION may occur between host and parasite. See also BIOTROPHIC, NECROTROPHIC.

Parasite

An organism that lives in or with another organism, called the host, in parasitism, a type of association characterized by the parasite obtaining benefits from the host, such as food, and the host being injured as a result.

par·a·site

An organism that lives on or in another and draws its nourishment therefrom.

[G. parasitos, a guest, fr. para, beside, + sitos, food]

parasite,

n an organism living in or on and obtaining nourishment from another organism.

parasite

a plant or animal that lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage. See also symbiosis.

Among the many parasites in nature, some feed upon animal hosts, causing diseases ranging from the mildly annoying to the severe and often fatal. Parasites include multicelled and single-celled animals, fungi and bacteria. Viruses are sometimes considered to be parasites. However, the commonest use of the word refers to the multicellular helminth, arachnid, crustacean (copepod) and arthropod parasites.

accidental parasite

one that parasitizes an organism other than the usual host.

facultative parasite

one that may be parasitic upon another organism but can exist independently.

incidental parasite

accidental parasite.

obligate parasite, obligatory parasite

one that is entirely dependent upon a host for its survival.

periodic parasite

one that parasitizes a host for short periods.

temporary parasite

one that lives free of its host during part of its life cycle.

Patient discussion about parasite

Q. is an Amoeba dangerous?? and how can i get rid of it? my son is in Peru, he called and told me he got an Amoeba..i have no idea if it's dangerous or not, and how to get rid of it. and what kinds of food he needs to avoid.I'll appreciate help!

A. oooo...an Amoeba is a nasty one...but not so dangerous! it's a one celled parasite which gets into your body if you eat in restaurants that the cook doesn't wash hands after going to the bathroom..it multiplies in your intestine and makes you diarrhea like hell. but if you'll treat it right it will go away as nothing happened. if you don't it can give you liver cyst. and that's not good. he should see a Dr.

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.